1973 World 600

The 1973 World 600 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on May 27, 1973 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, U.S.A..^[1]

Summary

The racing grid consisted of 40 male drivers; 39 of them were born in the United States of America while Vic Parsons was the only Canadian.^[1]

Alton Jones would finish in last place due to an engine problem on lap 2 out of the 400 laps that made up the race.^[1] Buddy Baker defeated David Pearson by 1.8 seconds in front of 85,000 live audience members.^[1] This would become Pearson's first victory of 1973; with his only other victory that year at the 1973 Nashville 420.^[2] Six cautions were waved for 48 laps along with 23 different leaders made the race last four hours and twenty-six seconds long.^[1] Baker would qualify for the pole position with a top speed of 158.051 miles per hour (254.358 km/h) while the average race speed was 134.890 miles per hour (217.084 km/h) - exactly 23.161 miles per hour (37.274 km/h) slower than the best qualifying speed.^[1] Other drivers in the top ten included: Cale Yarborough, Bobby Isaac, Benny Parsons, Jim Vandiver, Darrell Waltrip, Cecil Gordon, Dick Brooks, and David Sisco.^[1]

Cotton Owens would retire as a NASCAR race car owner after this race. David Pearson would be prevented from tying Richard Petty's record of ten consecutive wins at this race. Billy Scott would make his NASCAR debut here. Bobby Allison skipped this race to do the 1973 Indianapolis 500; which was the most horrific Indianapolis 500 race in its 100+ year history.

References